THE JUDGMENT FRANZ KAFKA MISS SWANK WESTERVILLE SOUTH HS IB ENGLISH

THE JUDGMENT DIFFERENCES FROM OTHER STORIES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT SEEMINGLY OPTIMISTIC CHARACTER HOPE DOES NOT SEEM HOPELESS UNTIL THE END LACKING IN MANY STEREOTYPICAL KAFKAESQUE QUALITIES KAFKA’S MINDSET AS A WRITER

LOOKING AT BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT KAFKA COMING FROM AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS OWN FATHER Who or what, from the real world, is Kafka criticizing in “The Judgment”? His father? Family values? Capitalism? Himself? Or do you read “The Judgment” as a story that, instead of aiming at a specific satiric target, simply aims to shock and entertain its readers?

LOOKING AT PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTEXT SIGMUND FREUD AND FREUDIAN THEORY OEDIPAL COMPLEX WHAT IS IT? DISSOLUTION AND RESLOVE IN “HEALTHY” INDIVIDUALS THE DESIGN OF THE SUPER-EGO MORAL AUTHORITY, UNREALISTIC STANDARDS

LOOKING AT PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTEXT SEMANTIC OPPOSITION USUALLY GIVEN IN LEXICAL CONTEXT, SEMANTIC OPPOSITES ARE WORDS THAT ARE INHERENTLY INCOMPATIBLE. (E.G. MALE/FEMALE, LONG/SHORT, UP/DOWN) THE NOTION OF INCOMPATIBILITY PROVIDES A SENSE OF NOT BELONGING TO A CERTAIN GROUP. OEDIPAL REVOLT NUCLEAR FAMILY AS THE ULTIMATE SIGN OF REPRESSION DESIRED SELF-REPRESSION AS AN ADULT REVOLT AGAINST THE FATHER FIGURE

KAFKA DISCUSSION Freud says that the Oedipus complex dissolves and is eradicated in healthy individuals.  What does this imply for the therapeutic aspect of Kafka's "The Judgment"?  Can the story still be therapeutic for individuals whose Oedipal wishes are completely sublimated?  Freud claims that the emergence of the ego-ideal, or the super-ego, occurs once the Oedipus complex is successfully dissolved. How can we apply this to the "revelation" scene (the reemergence of the father's authority) in "The Judgment?" How can this dissolution, or lack thereof, explain Georg's actions in the final scene? What aspects of this text do you feel a Freudian reading cannot adequately explain?  How else might you interpret the story? Gray, R. "Freud and The Literary Imagination." The Judgment Study. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://courses.washington.edu/freudlit/Judgment%20Study.html>.